MPCA taking comments on permit for large feedlots

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has started taking public comments on a proposed permit that will be issued to large feedlots in the state.

About 1,200 large livestock facilities in Minnesota operate under a permit that regulates pollutants that can harm surface water. The permit is designed to limit the amount of pathogens and nutrients that end up in bodies of water near a feedlot.

The permit being evaluated now would be in effect from 2011 to 2016.

The MPCA has already worked with representatives from the livestock industry to come up with a draft permit, but officials are taking public comments on that draft through Aug. 12 before issuing the final permit.